ARMY CHAPLAIN SPEAKS TO VFW: Army Reservist Chaplain David Morgan was the program speaker at the April 11th Dillon VFW meeting. Chaplain Morgan is an Army major currently serving as Group Chaplain for the 642nd Regional Support Group. He joined the Army Reserve through its direct commissioning program in 2010 and later earned his Master of Divinity degree from Bob Jones Seminary. His full-time pastorate is at Bear Swamp Baptist Church in Lake View, South Carolina. In 2022-23, he was away from his home church while deployed as a military chaplain to Jordan. In his remarks to the Dillon VFW, Chaplain Morgan talked about the relationship between military service members and the chaplain. He said that military service members need to know that they have the trust of the chaplain and that information shared with the chaplain will be held in strict confidence. “Sometimes, talk about suicide, addictive behaviors, abuse, unfaithful or criminal family relationships, and more are told to chaplains in confidence, and they must assure the service member that the information has absolute confidentiality. It is important that service members know they can come to their chaplain about such issues and know the information will remain between them and the chaplain,” he said. Chaplain Morgan told VFW members that he can often help, through religious counseling, a service member find helpful resources to correct harmful behaviors. He continued by saying that military chaplains have many duties and responsibilities that partly include conducting worship services, participating in special religious events, comforting service members and their families, overseeing religious ministries, religious education, funeral services, and sharing religious values among military individuals and military families. In closing, Chaplain Morgan reminded the VFW members that military chaplains are important to the relationship between troops and the command and that chaplains provide a valued resource to both in helping all service members dealing with life events in the military. Pictured L-R are VFW Post Chaplain Robert Sealey, Chaplain David Morgan, and VFW Post Commander John Harlow.
